With the advent of longer-lived rechargeable batteries and small efficient DC electric motors, a number of toy vehicles have been designed which are able to support a small child and propel him along the floor or ground under battery power. Thus, available on the market today are small battery-powered bikes and trikes, as well as four-wheeled carts. Small motors drive the rear wheels of these toys usually in the forward direction, although some vehicles such as carts can be operated in reverse by reversing the polarity of the voltage applied to the driving motors. Invariably, battery-operated ride-on toys of this general type are steered by handlebars, steering wheels or the like linked to the front wheels of the vehicles. Accordingly, they have definite minimum turning radii making it difficult to maneuver the vehicles in cramped quarters.
Attempts have been made to design such ride-on toys which can be steered by selectively driving the wheels at opposite sides of the vehicle in the manner of an army tank. Thus, if both rear wheels are driven forwardly, the vehicle moves in the forward direction; if both are operated in reverse, the vehicle moves backwards and if the rear wheels at opposite sides of the vehicle are rotated in opposite directions, the vehicle turns to the left or to the right practically on the spot. However, such attempts to date have not resulted in superior products. In some cases, the electric drives at the opposite sides of the vehicle have not been strong enough to enable the vehicle, while supporting a child of normal weight, to travel along, and turn on, some surfaces on which the vehicle is normally used, e.g. carpets and rugs. That is, on some tufted and deep-pile carpeting, the vehicle stops or stalls when the child tries to turn the vehicle in one direction or the other. Such stalling can cause the drive motors to overheat and burn out.
This problem can be avoided by using large electric motors to propel the vehicle. However, such motors add considerably to the overall expense of the vehicle not only because of the expense of the motors themselves, but also because such motors have large current requirements necessitating the use of larger, heavier and more expensive onboard batteries to power the motors. Also, such motors draw down the batteries more quickly, thereby shortening the time during which the vehicle can be operated between battery recharge cycles and shortening the useful life of the batteries themselves.
Prior battery-operated ride-on toys of this general type have been disadvantaged also because some children have found it difficult to control the toy's movements easily and accurately. Still further, some conventional ride-on toy vehicles are not as stable and safe for the child as they could be.